32: Conspiracy brewing

Arthur knew Airo's infiltration skills were excellent, but he didn't expect this operation to have an unexpected gain.

Before him lay several gold ornaments, exquisitely crafted, but their style was definitely not from Amn artisans.

The noble young master bent down and picked up a snake-shaped bracelet from the ornaments.

Evidently, part of the bracelet was missing.

He recalled the information about the magical item, the Twin Serpent Bracers, from today's intelligence, and immediately understood.

"Were all these things found on the ship?" Arthur asked.

Airo nodded, "In a chest in the captain's cabin, it was full of these treasures.

"There were also many jade items, but they were too large for me to bring out. I just picked a few small ones. It's also not easy to be noticed."

Old Joe interjected at this moment: "The noble young lady and I have looked at them, and she judged these to be artifacts unearthed from the ancient Chult civilization.

"In recent years, collecting Chult antiques has been popular among Amn nobles..."

Saying that, he picked up a gold necklace, "Just this one pure gold ornament could fetch at least three hundred gold Dantes at an auction house."

Arthur immediately heard the calculations in their words.

His expression unchanged, he merely analyzed indifferently: "They're valuable, but difficult to sell.

"If sent to an auction house, within a month, the owner will come looking for them.

"Although we'll be in Qingfeng Valley by then, it's still offending someone, and future dealings with the outside world will inevitably have complications."

"Then melt all this gold and sell it." Philip suggested.

"Alas, silly boy, what's valuable isn't the gold, but the value of the artifacts themselves." Old Joe said, "If you melt all these things, you probably won't even get a hundred gold coins."

"Qingfeng Valley is a week's journey from here, we can sell these goods here." Airo analyzed, "Even if the Imperial Knight investigates, I doubt they would dare go to Qingfeng Valley to demand an explanation."

Arthur shook his head; others didn't know, but he had intelligence.

"Do you know whose these smuggled goods belong to? They belong to the Black Hand Gang."

The others looked puzzled.

Arthur had to continue explaining: "The Black Hand Gang's backer is the Little Finger Merchant Guild.

"That's right, it's Amn's largest halfling business association. Now do you understand why I'm worried about future trouble?"

Airo might not have fully understood, but Philip and Old Joe gasped.

The reputation of the Little Finger Merchant Guild was well-known even before the civil war.

There were even rumors that since Amn was established, these shrewd halflings had begun to manipulate politics with money.

Every major change in Amn's history seemed to have their shadow.

This force was one Arthur was currently unwilling to provoke.

But thinking of the intelligence today, where Olaf intended to collude with the captain to raise prices and extort him, a surge of anger rose in Arthur's heart.

He had been more than benevolent to this Imperial Knight; even if he killed sixteen of his slaves, he still provided him with good food and drink.

Some people are like ungrateful wolves, always wanting to eat your flesh and drink your blood.

Seeing everyone's disheartened expressions, Arthur changed the subject: "Don't rush, this matter needs long-term planning.

"The Little Finger Merchant Guild is indeed very famous in the west and central regions, but this is the east, the territory of the old nobles.

"The influence of these merchants is not that great yet. Otherwise, they wouldn't support gangs in various territories to do their bidding."

After a simple analysis, everyone's hope was rekindled.

Arthur turned to Airo: "Have you figured out the situation on the ship?"

"There aren't many crew members left, about ten or so, but it's unclear if more will be sent tonight. The smuggled goods are basically all medicine."

"Medicine?" Old Hutu, who had been dazed on the side, suddenly interjected, "Why smuggle so much medicine?

"Is there a plague nearby? Is the city's medicine reserve insufficient?

"This won't do, this won't do, we need to stock up quickly. Otherwise, when the plague comes, all the livestock will die, and we won't be able to sell them..."

Newt, the half-elf, quickly pulled Old Hutu aside.

The rabbit-man's words startled Arthur: Yes, there was no shortage of medicine in Wolf Den City, so why smuggle so much medicine here?

Arthur seemed to grasp something and lowered his head in thought.

Fragmented information pieced together in his mind one by one.

The murdered temple artisan, the missing foreman, the vanished Blazing Fire Paste, the bandits outside the city, and this batch of smuggled medicine.

In other words, these bastards really planned to blow up the temple, and then there would be countless casualties, and the city's medicine would definitely be in short supply.

And with bandits on important trade routes, they only needed to target medicine for plunder, and the city's drug prices would spiral out of control.

The Black Hand Gang could take the opportunity to make a huge profit.

What a series of schemes. Every aspect had been calculated.

Arthur temporarily put his thoughts aside, came to the table, picked up a pen and paper, and wrote down his deductions.

Then he handed the paper to Newt, instructing: "Ride my horse, go find Sheriff Adelaide, and give this to her.

"If she asks you, just say I gave it to her."

Newt took the paper, carefully folded it, hid it in his bosom, and quickly left the door.

Airo noticed Arthur's unusual expression and asked: "Is there a problem?"

Arthur shook his head and said: "No, nothing, I just hope I'm overthinking it. Let me think about the artifacts again."

Since the lord had spoken, everyone stopped saying anything.

Old Joe then mysteriously approached Arthur and said: "My lord, if we're really going to do this, I can prepare some useful things."

"More money?"

"No, no, the materials are all ready, it's just that refining takes time, I'm here to ask for your opinion."

Arthur thought for a moment and said: "You can make some first, just in case."

"Alright, my lord."

As soon as Old Joe left, Airo and Philip came over.

Airo said: "The Water Ghost and I plan to go to the dock to keep an eye on how many crew members return to the Barracuda, so we can keep track of the situation on board."

Arthur agreed to their suggestion, but he asked curiously: "By the way, after working all night, aren't you all tired?"

Everyone shook their heads; clearly, these guys were all holding back a surge of energy.

Arthur let them be.

He found a haystack to sit on, intending to ponder how to smoothly dispose of those artifacts.

But before his backside was warm, the warehouse door was pushed open.

Bard, still bleary-eyed, led in a tall, thin man with a full beard.

"My lord, my lord, look who I brought!" Bard said cheerfully, still looking a bit tipsy.

The man elegantly performed a standard noble bow to Arthur and began to introduce himself: "My lord, I am Godwin Ernst.

"From Old Cheren Town, I heard you wished to speak with me?"

Arthur stared at the person in front of him, and a bold plan suddenly flashed in his mind.

He didn't answer, but walked to the table made of wooden boxes and pulled out the supply list from the pile of documents.

Then, he walked up to Godwin and replied: "Yes. But before that, there's something I want to confirm."

Godwin's eyebrow twitched.

"I heard Bard say you have a special skill, that you can imitate others' handwriting?"

A smile appeared on Godwin's face, "Yes, my lord."

"Look at this." Arthur pointed to the signature on the supply list and asked, "Can you imitate this person's handwriting?"

Godwin narrowed his eyes and scrutinized it for a moment: "Though the sample is small, imitating only the signature is no problem."

"Very well, let's go somewhere else to discuss in detail." Arthur said, then strode out.